Being homeless in stay-at-home era

Published: 13 May 2020 23:05 BdSTUpdated: 13 May 2020 23:05 BdST

The government has asked people to stay at home and go into home quarantine if they contract the novel coronavirus or show symptoms of the respiratory illness. But the orders are nothing but a cruel joke to the homeless people who do not have the luxury of staying safe. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Many of the homeless people who live from hand to mouth have to sleep on pavements. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Rahima Begum, a homeless woman who sleeps on a pavement at Dhanmondi in Dhaka, does not know what coronavirus is, but the hunger due to a lack of food has made her realise that it is a crisis. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

"How will we stay at home?" Afroza, a homeless woman of Shantinagar in Dhaka who identified herself by a single name, asks. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

A homeless woman sleeps on the staircase of a closed shop in Dhaka's Malibagh amid the coronavirus lockdown. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Homeless people can be seen sleeping rough early in the morning in Dhaka. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Homeless people can be seen sleeping rough early in the morning in Dhaka. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi